Cargando…

Initial Exposure of Wax Foundation to Agrochemicals Causes Negligible Effects on the Growth and Winter Survival of Incipient Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) Colonies

Widespread use of agrochemicals in the U.S. has led to nearly universal contamination of beeswax in honey bee hives. The most commonly found agrochemicals in wax include beekeeper-applied miticides containing tau-fluvalinate, coumaphos, or amitraz, and field-applied pesticides containing chlorothalo...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Payne, Alexandria N., Walsh, Elizabeth M., Rangel, Juliana
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6359559/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30626042
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/insects10010019
_version_ 1783392287813795840
author Payne, Alexandria N.
Walsh, Elizabeth M.
Rangel, Juliana
author_facet Payne, Alexandria N.
Walsh, Elizabeth M.
Rangel, Juliana
author_sort Payne, Alexandria N.
collection PubMed
description Widespread use of agrochemicals in the U.S. has led to nearly universal contamination of beeswax in honey bee hives. The most commonly found agrochemicals in wax include beekeeper-applied miticides containing tau-fluvalinate, coumaphos, or amitraz, and field-applied pesticides containing chlorothalonil or chlorpyrifos. Wax contaminated with these pesticides negatively affects the reproductive quality of queens and drones. However, the synergistic effects of these pesticides on the growth and survival of incipient colonies remain understudied. We established new colonies using frames with wax foundation that was pesticide free or contaminated with field-relevant concentrations of amitraz alone, a combination of tau-fluvalinate and coumaphos, or a combination of chlorothalonil and chlorpyrifos. Colony growth was assessed by estimating comb and brood production, food storage, and adult bee population during a colony’s first season. We also measured colony overwintering survival. We found no significant differences in colony growth or survivorship between colonies established on pesticide-free vs. pesticide-laden wax foundation. However, colonies that had Varroa destructor levels above 3% in the fall were more likely to die over winter than those with levels below this threshold, indicating that high Varroa infestation in the fall played a more important role than initial pesticide exposure of wax foundation in the winter survival of newly established colonies.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-6359559
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2019
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-63595592019-02-12 Initial Exposure of Wax Foundation to Agrochemicals Causes Negligible Effects on the Growth and Winter Survival of Incipient Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) Colonies Payne, Alexandria N. Walsh, Elizabeth M. Rangel, Juliana Insects Article Widespread use of agrochemicals in the U.S. has led to nearly universal contamination of beeswax in honey bee hives. The most commonly found agrochemicals in wax include beekeeper-applied miticides containing tau-fluvalinate, coumaphos, or amitraz, and field-applied pesticides containing chlorothalonil or chlorpyrifos. Wax contaminated with these pesticides negatively affects the reproductive quality of queens and drones. However, the synergistic effects of these pesticides on the growth and survival of incipient colonies remain understudied. We established new colonies using frames with wax foundation that was pesticide free or contaminated with field-relevant concentrations of amitraz alone, a combination of tau-fluvalinate and coumaphos, or a combination of chlorothalonil and chlorpyrifos. Colony growth was assessed by estimating comb and brood production, food storage, and adult bee population during a colony’s first season. We also measured colony overwintering survival. We found no significant differences in colony growth or survivorship between colonies established on pesticide-free vs. pesticide-laden wax foundation. However, colonies that had Varroa destructor levels above 3% in the fall were more likely to die over winter than those with levels below this threshold, indicating that high Varroa infestation in the fall played a more important role than initial pesticide exposure of wax foundation in the winter survival of newly established colonies. MDPI 2019-01-08 /pmc/articles/PMC6359559/ /pubmed/30626042 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/insects10010019 Text en © 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Payne, Alexandria N.
Walsh, Elizabeth M.
Rangel, Juliana
Initial Exposure of Wax Foundation to Agrochemicals Causes Negligible Effects on the Growth and Winter Survival of Incipient Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) Colonies
title Initial Exposure of Wax Foundation to Agrochemicals Causes Negligible Effects on the Growth and Winter Survival of Incipient Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) Colonies
title_full Initial Exposure of Wax Foundation to Agrochemicals Causes Negligible Effects on the Growth and Winter Survival of Incipient Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) Colonies
title_fullStr Initial Exposure of Wax Foundation to Agrochemicals Causes Negligible Effects on the Growth and Winter Survival of Incipient Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) Colonies
title_full_unstemmed Initial Exposure of Wax Foundation to Agrochemicals Causes Negligible Effects on the Growth and Winter Survival of Incipient Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) Colonies
title_short Initial Exposure of Wax Foundation to Agrochemicals Causes Negligible Effects on the Growth and Winter Survival of Incipient Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) Colonies
title_sort initial exposure of wax foundation to agrochemicals causes negligible effects on the growth and winter survival of incipient honey bee (apis mellifera) colonies
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6359559/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30626042
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/insects10010019
work_keys_str_mv AT paynealexandrian initialexposureofwaxfoundationtoagrochemicalscausesnegligibleeffectsonthegrowthandwintersurvivalofincipienthoneybeeapismelliferacolonies
AT walshelizabethm initialexposureofwaxfoundationtoagrochemicalscausesnegligibleeffectsonthegrowthandwintersurvivalofincipienthoneybeeapismelliferacolonies
AT rangeljuliana initialexposureofwaxfoundationtoagrochemicalscausesnegligibleeffectsonthegrowthandwintersurvivalofincipienthoneybeeapismelliferacolonies